


Pillow Case Necessities

by CatrinaSL



Series: Three Things [60]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Background Jane/Bruce - Freeform, Characters Watching Star Wars, Diet Cream Soda, F/M, Flirting, Friends to Lovers, Kissing, Literal Sleeping Together, Resolved Sexual Tension, Running Away, SHIP DARCY LEWIS WITH ALL THE THINGS, Three Things, Unresolved Sexual Tension, microwave popcorn, pop tarts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 14:20:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13413102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatrinaSL/pseuds/CatrinaSL
Summary: Darcy is sick of Bruce and Jane's UST, so she's decided to run away from home.





	Pillow Case Necessities

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Wheresarizona](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wheresarizona/gifts).



> Wheresarizona prompted Star Wars dvd, Pillow case, Soda can.

It was 3:34 on a random Thursday afternoon when Darcy walked into the lab, a pillow case slung over her shoulder, and announced, "Jane and Bruce are driving me nuts; I've decided to run away from home."

Tony turned from tweaking something delicate on the lab bench and took her in. 

"Oh," she said, "is it just you? I thought Steve and Clint would be up here too. Sorry to bother you! Bye!"

She made for the elevators, but Tony called, "Stop!"

Darcy did. 

"Turn," Tony continued, and Darcy obeyed. "Explain," he requested. 

"They just need to  _ kiss  _ already," Darcy sighed. 

"I don't disagree," Tony said, "but how is you running away going to help that?"

"I know it's drastic," Darcy said, "but it's the kick in the face that both of them need. When I'm gone, maybe they'll see that they're tearing this family apart!"

"With their unresolved sexual tension?" Tony asked. 

"Yeah, obviously," Darcy replied. 

"What do you have in there, anyway?" Tony asked, cocking his head at the pillow case. Darcy handed it over, and Tony opened it up. "Star Wars DVDs," he observed. 

"Yeah, in case I get bored," Darcy put in. 

"Pop Tarts," Tony listed, pulling them out and setting them on lab bench for later. 

"Yeah, in case I get hungry," Darcy told him. 

"Diet cream soda?"

"Yeah, in case I get thirsty," Darcy said. "And it was abandoned in the break room fridge ages ago, so I figured I might as well."

"I wish you luck," Tony told her, handing her Pillow Case of Necessities back. "How long do you plan to be away?"

"As long as it takes!" Darcy said, determined. 

"Where were you going to run to?" Tony asked. 

"Well," Darcy began. "I thought I might ride the rails for a while, maybe find myself in the process, but then I realized that I don't have a portable charger for my iPod, so I was hoping I could just hang out up here until they come looking. Is that cool?"

"Sure, go ahead," Tony told her, gesturing at the couch in the living room area below.

Darcy saluted, spun, and headed down the stairs. Tony got back to work, ignoring the sound of the movie when it floated up from below.

* * *

"Hey, this stuff's disgusting!" Darcy shouted up to him about twenty minutes later.

"You knew what you were getting into!" Tony yelled back. "There's better stuff behind the bar!"

He heard her laugh. "It's five o'clock somewhere, right?"

* * *

It was another half an hour before she realized, "You stole my Pop Tarts, you thief!"

Tony sighed and grabbed a pack out before taking the rest of the box over to the railing that separated the lab from the 'Avengers Chill Space' below it. "I'll toss them down to you," he offered.

"You do that and I'll end up with a box of Pop Tarts in the face," Darcy said, declining the offer. "Just bring them down here like a normal person."

"If I come down there, you and I are just going to end up arguing about Stormtroopers again," Tony told her as he leaned on the railing.

Darcy glared up at him. "Meet in the middle?" she suggested.

Tony sighed. "Fine."

The screen wasn't directly in view when he got halfway down the stairs, so he asked, "What scene are you on?"

"It's the part in space," Darcy told him, holding out her hand for the Pop Tarts.

Tony nodded. "Good to know."

"Wanna watch with me?" she offered.

He sighed, considering. "Maybe later."

"Your loss; I'm awesome," Darcy said, and plucked the box out of his hands with a "Yoink!"

* * *

"Bruce! Hi! Good to hear from you!" Tony said loudly into his phone when Darcy was halfway through  _ The Empire Strikes Back _ .

All sound from the living room ceased; Darcy paused her movie. 

He meandered over to the railing to see Darcy miming something, likely a plea to communicate her absence. "Darcy? Darcy  _ Lewis _ ?"

Darcy waved her arms, mouthing, "I'M NOT HERE!" before diving underneath a throw pillow.

"Nope, haven't seen her, sorry!" He saw Darcy peek out from beneath the pillow as he nodded at Bruce's reply. "Yup, absolutely. Yeah, I'll let you know if she wanders in. Uh-huh. Sure, see you later!"

Darcy emerged when he hung up. "Thanks for that," she said.

"No problem," he replied.

"Wanna watch now? I was about to throw some of that popcorn Steve hates into the microwave."

Tony considered the movie, the couch, the microwave, and then the lab. "Sure, why not?"

"Yessss..." Darcy hissed evilly. "Search your feelings. Give in to your desire for microwave popcorn."

"Is there any diet cream soda left?" Tony asked as he jogged down the stairs.

"Yeah, dude," Darcy replied. "Everything but the one sip I took. Go nuts."

Tony helped himself to the open can of soda and a spot on the couch. Darcy busied herself with popcorn preparations, then started the movie.

"You were right about this," Tony said, taking another gulp of the cream soda. "It's terrible."

"Stop drinking it," Darcy said, her face displaying her revulsion.

"Can't," Tony replied. "I was never one to go back on a bad decision."

Darcy was reluctant to share the popcorn when she returned, but Tony motivated her to let him hold the bowl by threatening to tickle her feet if she didn't. She kicked him, but relented, retaliating by wiping her buttery popcorn hands on him.

"Hey, do you mind? This is my favorite shirt."

"Plain dark gray?" Darcy remarked, eyeing it. "No, it's not. You like your Led Zeppelin shirt better."

"Well, it's in the top three."

She gave him a skeptical look.

"Okay, maybe the top 25," he admitted, watching her drag her fingers across his chest, leaving popcorn residue in their wake.

"Can't, sorry," she replied. "I was never one to go back on a bad decision. Plus, it's soft."

"Touch away," Tony offered. "Just lick your fingers first."

"Really?" Darcy asked.

"Sure," he told her, stretching his arm out across the back of the couch.

She prodded him experimentally, then leaned against his side, nestled her head against his shoulder and patted his abdomen.

"Not what I was expecting, but I'll allow it."

"I think I get why it's in your top 25," Darcy told him, rubbing her cheek on his shoulder. "So soft."

Eventually, Tony finished off the popcorn and Darcy fell asleep on him near the end of  _ Return of the Jedi _ .

Tony  _ would _ have gotten up to go back up to the lab, but he didn't want to wake Darcy. It had also been a while since he had taken an afternoon off just to relax. He looked out the window to watch the city instead, and soon drifted off to sleep. 

* * *

"It's about time," Jane said.

"I agree," came Bruce's voice. "Their unresolved sexual tension was really getting in the way of productivity around here."

"Do you think they resolved it?" Jane asked. "It looks like they just fell asleep on each other. Wouldn't they be a lot less  _ clothed _ if—"

"I'm awake, you know," Tony told them. 

He opened his eyes and took stock of things: one empty popcorn bowl, one nearly empty can of diet cream soda, a couple of unwelcome fellow scientists, and Darcy, stretched out with him on the couch. Their legs were tangled together and she was half on top of him, so he could see how Jane and Bruce might have jumped to that particular conclusion.

"I thought you said you hadn't seen her," Bruce said.

"I couldn't; she was under a throw pillow right when you happened to ask," Tony replied sleepily.

"Did she say why she was up here?" Jane asked with a sigh.

"Yeah," Tony told them. "You two need to get over yourselves and make out. You're driving everyone crazy."

"You should talk," Bruce commented.

"Darcy and I are just  _ friends _ ," Tony said, bestowing a glare along with the information.

Darcy chose that moment to shift in her sleep, nuzzling Tony's neck and moaning his name as she tightened her arms around him.

Jane laughed. "You were saying?"

"Look," Tony said, focusing on Jane instead of the way Darcy's breath was brushing against his ear. "You two... are a menace with your flirting. Darcy tried to run away earlier, see?" 

He pointed at the coffee table, where Darcy's supplies were assembled. "Is that  _ my _ pillow case?" Jane wanted to know.

"It seems like she ran straight to you," Bruce pointed out.

"That's not what's important, here," Tony argued. "You two—"

"We'll go, if that's what you want," Bruce interrupted. He held out a hand to allow Jane to go first, and she rolled her eyes as she snatched back the pillow case.

Tony was trying to decide how best to escape, or wake Darcy, or both when Darcy's phone buzzed in her pocket. She startled and sat up, drawing a sleepy breath in through her nose.

"Jane wants to know if we want to go on a double date with them," she reported.

Tony rolled his eyes.

"Wait,” Darcy gasped. “Do you think that means they got together?" 

"JARVIS?"

"Doctors Foster and Banner are currently kissing in the elevator, Sir," JARVIS told them.

Darcy emitted a high pitched squeak of excitement and launched herself at Tony for a celebratory hug.

"So you're just going to ignore the other half of that text?" he asked.

Darcy laughed. "Like I wasn't awake the whole time they were in here," she said. "Did you  _ hear _ Jane? 'It's about time.' She wasn't talking about us; she was totally guilting Bruce for not asking her out."

"You were awake?" Tony repeated. "Then what was with the whole..." He gestured at his neck.

A small smile was on Darcy's lips when she shrugged. "Maybe they're right," she said. "Maybe I like you."

Tony stared at her. "Why didn't you say something?"

"I just did."

Darcy waited in an increasing state of apprehension while Tony processed the situation.

"Don't you think you should reply to the text?" he asked eventually.

"Am I... accepting, or telling them no because you think I'm gross and never want to hang out with me again?" Darcy wanted to know, looking between Tony and her phone.

"Accepting, obviously," he told her. "Although we should probably get in a date of our own before we find couple friends."

Darcy leaned against him, taking the opportunity to let out a secret sigh of relief. "What, watching Star Wars all afternoon doesn't count as a date?"

"We can count it if you want," he said, slinging an arm around her and pulling her close.

"Does this mean you're gonna kiss me sometime soon? Because if so, I'm totally down."

"Are we talking appropriate first date kissing or 'months of unresolved sexual tension' kissing?" Tony asked.

Darcy tilted her head up and softly pressed her lips to his. "It's up to you," she whispered.

Tony chose the latter.

**Author's Note:**

> Which snacks go best with a Star Wars marathon (romantic or not)?
> 
> [Prompt a Three Things fic!](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf7S2MbkK0CxVHMG3kF8CD6fYqD0zwY-J6MqLb21nmFyRpE4w/viewform)
> 
> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/169862346523/pillow-case-necessities)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


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